The Youngest Gift
by lillelouis
Summary: A Queen walks on the beach. A shadow follows.


**AN:** Inspired (in title only) by Elecktrum's Halcyon. Introducing Prince Hilio, who's all mine, and Lucy who's not.

* * *

The Youngest Gift

The air that day was clear after last night's rainfall. Green hills wavered in the brisk wind, but didn't dampen the mood. Saucers clinked against cups as tea trickled into porcelain before it was sipped by rosebud-lips. Dainty lace-gloves gripped handles in pinches as chicory eyes admired pink, purple and pale yellow flowers in the porcelain glaze. Gossiping sisters laughed at the boys' antics.

Swordplay was a thing of their past, and yet it belonged so easily with them still.

The Professor was smiling as always, as he watched the kings practice and read his book. Lucy looked into the never-ending sky and closed her eyes when the sun came out from hiding. A deep sigh loosened her shoulders. She felt calm, so safe in her little kingdom on Earth. Though not even a quarter of her magnificent Narnia, or the violent, frothing sea, Professor Kirke's Garden felt like a little bit of home.

She had planted thyme and lavender in a small bed just beyond the kitchen door. Oak trees swayed in the wind and every once in a while one would hear the _thunk_ of an acorn as it hit the ground. Ash trees shot up in sporadic pylons further from the grounds, among ha-ha's to keep the sheep from the main house.

She hadn't known Professor Kirke kept sheep until she met the groundskeeper, Mr. Williams, with his pitchfork and wooly cap, and he sourly told her that the master of the house did _indeed_ keep sheep. Lucy grinned. Lambs were bounding around in celebration of the warm weather. It even seemed as though, if only for a little while, that time froze.

She was quite suddenly reminded of a story from her home. It had been told to her on her journeys with the Dawn Treader. Told by sailors who whispered it like a fairytale.

As though something so amazing could never exist.

* * *

Four siblings were given four gifts. For each of them it came and went. Outsiders would sometimes notice how four pairs of eyes lit up in golden hues, but never speak of it. The gifts were not grand things, nor useless trinkets. They were seen and noticed, revered by some, and accepted as puzzle-pieces found in the four siblings. Puzzle-pieces none other than the kings and queens themselves understood.

And although, not grand or shiny, gifts they _were _in fact.

And although the youngest of four, she was perhaps the most powerful.

* * *

It was autumn.

Sixteen years had passed since the White Witch had been defeated.

Lately the air had been soured by the faint stench of fire and burnt wood. Summer had been hard for Narnia, but the heat was waning. Lucy could see flashes of blue through the distant smoke and clouds once again and the unnaturally cloudy chill was giving way to familiar autumn warmth.

Midsummer had passed and was bowing to the apple harvest. The apples were small and sour, but next year would be better. Lucy loved the apple trees around their castle. She _loved_ their smell in autumn. Sour and sweetness... and _dirt_.

She was taking long walks almost every day, always past the orchards. When the walls of her quarters became too bland she rose and walked for a while. Breathed deep the smell of her earth. It was black and rich this far north, a little dry, but nothing sturdy apple trees minded. She smiled, warmth showing in her eyes as a Dryad greeted her in passing.

Her dress swayed across the ground and tapped kindly against her pale legs, against her dirty feet, but she didn't mind.

Next to her walked an old friend she had not seen for quite some time. She hadn't told her siblings of his arrival and felt they would not approve either way. But she was known for her...quirks. Dreams that frightened those who heard her scream. An uncanny memory recall which often surprised her sister. But strange dreams no longer frightened Lucy, just as faded memories of secret adventures no longer surprised her.

She loved days like this, when she could walk without pause. It was late in the day and the sun was changing color. It would be cold soon, she thought as she glanced to her right. Her friend was there. He smiled and nodded for her to continue, occasionally watching his steps. She looked down to watch her own when they reached a decline in the hill. It swooped down into fields of wheat, and further east into sandy dunes with an ocean behind. "What do you see?" she asked him. Her back was to his front as she climbed down. Leaded clouds were gathering to dance over the ocean, but above their heads the sun shone down in brief intervals.

"A sun and the orchard."

She chuffed and glanced back.

He frowned. "I don't understand, then."

"You're not supposed to look around you and just..._tell_ me," She seemed bothered, and yet not. "You're supposed to _keep looking_."

He frowned, a little in indignation, to conceal a deep-seated unease. "I _am_."

She stopped and turned, face to his. "No," Her eyes narrowed in the way he always loved. "You're not," She returned to her trek down the field and smiled with her back to his when he giggled. They were almost out of the orchard. She could hear the ocean not too far away. The smell of salt ever present. "Why did you come here?" She glanced back.

"I don't know."

She snorted lightly. "It's a pretty long journey."

"You sent for me?" Because yes, he would have come had she called and she was perhaps his dearest friend. Could have been more if not for the distance between them. Or her devotion to someone he would most likely never meet.

"I _did_," Though he saw naught but her auburn curls, her face saddened an instant. "But that _was_ rather long ago, don't you think?" She glanced back with yet another smile. Her bare feet hit sand and something prickly. Lyme grass. "Ouch- You always said you would come," She quickly rubbed her foot before she stepped forwards.

Behind her he slowed and a look of longing, as though he'd lost something precious and only just realized it, crossed his face. "I'm sorry."

His voice made her turn. She whipped a curl out of her face when a gust blew it there. She studied him closer and worried if he was perhaps too tired to go traipsing around the dunes. He _was_ rather young, close to her age, and had undertaken a rather long journey prior to finding her. But she worried he would never fully trust anything ever again if _this_ did not happen. If _she_ could not help him. "Oh, Hilio," She placed her hand upon his chin and shivered at how cold it was.

* * *

Some, those who knew of the gifts, would never ask. Other, those who knew nothing, would ask tentatively. "What can she do?" and withdraw when the answer was a harsh glare.

No one thought to ask the royals outright.

Their response might have surprised them.

* * *

The young prince leaned slightly into her touch with relief, and only then did a sudden expression of shock stretch her face. She opened her mouth as if to speak, or maybe simply to keep him from it. She waited and teetered on the edge of something vital. Something she had overlooked in her own youth. Her mouth closed shut, her hand still on his face, and she swallowed.

Her epiphany had arrived far too late, and the knowledge saddened her. She had never noticed the devotion there, and had never felt the same. She had been loyal, of course, a friend even, but the desire for more had never opened her eyes to the signs of significance. He was in love, she realized. The boy was in _love_.

Her siblings wouldn't know. They hardly knew of her trips in the country. Peter suspected, but Lucy thought he might have some of the same as she did. A longing to travel and wander, or maybe just to be forgotten for a little while. "I cannot help you, Hilio."

She withdrew and folded her hands in front of her hips, subconsciously.

He looked confused only to grin and shake his head. He caught the cry from a seagull and looked towards the shore. The swell just beyond the last dune. She turned to join him and closed her eyes as a gentle wind chilled her. Her joy of walking was waning and it unsettled her slightly. "Come," She took him by the hand and led him to the shore. There was a need to be finished.

The sand was warmer than the air, but not by much, and yet suddenly the wind eased. Fingers of light cut continuously through the clouds and roved across the sea. She smiled and squeezed his hand. "Do you know of the Halcyon?"

He shook his head.

"It's a mystical bird. That is, not a Talking Bird, but perhaps rather... something _slightly_ smarter than other beasts."

He nodded. In front of them a salty sigh pushed the final, obstinate chill to shore before it gave way to the sun behind the clouds. The ocean lightened and eased its churn, though neither of them bothered to notice. Hilio sighed and looked at the Queen like someone very much in love, that is: an unrequited love. His hand squeezed hers a moment.

"The Halcyon hatches her eggs on the ocean in a little, floating nest. Her appearance on shore brings a period of grace for whichever kingdom she lands on," The Valiant Queen turned her stormy eyes to the dulled ocean. "She brings a charmed wind and slow waves."

The young prince turned his gaze towards the appeased ocean. "Does she really exist?"

Lucy sighed when a familiar scent reached her. "You should ask a scholar that."

He glanced over and she pointed towards the horizon where a little, yellow blob was undulating and shifting like a sand dervish. Apparently moving closer. "What is it?"

She looked him straight in the eye and decided then and there to never mourn her regrets. "Aslan," Only ensure she never made the same mistakes twice.

Hilio stuttered and took a little step back, fretting as the golden shape moved like a wind across the water. "The Lion?"

"Yes," She rubbed his fingers and looked down at them, though his focus remained on his lord. "Do you know He crowned me?" she asked him quietly.

_That_ drew his attention and he shook his head.

"He put us on our seats and gave us each gifts."

"The cordial-"

"No," She shook her head, and didn't blame his confusion. "He gave us each a little coronation gift," He still looked confused so she leaned closer and took his other hand as well. "Sight."

He frowned.

She explained patiently. They still had time. "My eyes are on what is to come. I see..._too_ much sometimes."

He saddened with her. Looked as though he felt too far removed from her.

* * *

Ever since she was a little girl she had the dreams. Their nature had changed somewhat once she fell into Narnia, though not their purpose.

* * *

"Hilio, I _swear_ to you, I knew nothing of your feelings for me," Her one hand once again came to rest on his chin. _This_ she regretted, she realized. Never seeing him as he stood there. "But I promise you, we _will_ meet again."

His frown returned as the faint thunder grew in the direction of their Golden Lion. Something like recognition flickered across his face. "Is He...for _me_?" He looked to her for an answer and she nodded.

"He rides on the Western winds and carries souls back with Him across the sea."

Hilio sighed. "...Souls."

"Like yours," Lucy no longer cared about the Lion. They had time. She _deserved_ time to say goodbye.

A tear fell from his eye and out of existence before it hit the sand.

"He comes for those who cannot find their own way," This made him look at her. "For those who die too soon."

* * *

She woke up crying and screaming.

* * *

Another tear fell from his eye. "I did not see where I was until you summoned me."

She looked back and saw his feet had left no tracks in the sand. "I know," She squeezed his hand and tried to smile. "Try not to worry. It'll be alright in the end," To think his walk with her had left no trace.

His eyes flickered from hers to the horizon and back.

She tried to be brave for his sake. "And if it is not alright then it is not the end."

He swallowed and nodded. A faint hum had risen and made their stomachs tremble. The outline of a mighty animal was now clear and it seemed to only take the length of a heartbeat for it to land gracefully on the beach. The Lion stepped from the sea and stood before His subjects. Lucy kneeled with eyes closed, as was her custom, and Hilio quickly followed. "My son," Aslan hummed like only He could. "You have finally come."

Lucy rose and her prince followed. She smiled at her Lord when the Lion smiled at _her_, as if the two would always share a secret. Hilio looked timid and too frightened to step forward. "Hav- Have you not come to take me away?"

The Lion laughed. Loud and heartfelt in a manner which could not help but soothe those who heard. "No, Dear Heart. My business here is only to return Mine to where they belong," His deep voice put the young man at ease in a way Lucy's warm hand could not. "Are you ready, Prince Hilio of Eion?" The Lion kneeled before the prince, offering him a merry ride.

Hilio glanced at Lucy with something not quite a smile, not quite worry.

* * *

But she would always wake up and things would always be alright.

In the very end, at least.

* * *

"All will be well, Dear One," He said as the prince climbed on his back. The Lion looked one final time at His young Queen with a sadness Lucy could not understand. Little did she know of his plans for her and her siblings.

Little did she know she would, only a few years later, remember that moment in a world she had left behind centuries before.

* * *

Sitting in professor Kirke's garden it felt like a thousand years had passed. So much had happened in her little kingdom and it had felt, to her, as though decades had passed. She looked at her brothers and sister and saw the same weariness in them. They were magnificent, but something had been waxed away. It was odd to her how nearly twenty years in Narnia had not aged her as much as three in Britain. She could not settle the discrepancy and most likely never would until she was back home.

But she felt a yearning as of late. A hunger deep within her that had only been awakened most recently. Susan was leaving and Peter was growing up. Edmund was still young of heart, though he too had aged. But something was happening in the wind and in the trees. Something was calling her closer.

Calling her home.

* * *

The End

**AN:** This belongs among my other stories, some of which have not yet been posted :) They're not ready yet, but this one was. What do you thinkk? Are you curious about Hilio? :P Lemme know! You guys ROCK!


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